Destiny Share Why Bungie's MMO Shooter Is So Successful

destiny-storeDate: Jun/30/15 09:51:13Views: 78

Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg attributes this ongoing success to the strong cadence of carefully curated add-on content -- which is consciously different than that of Call of Duty -- that actively improves Destiny. With interest in Bungie's online first-person shooter still on the rise, Destiny's momentum is more comparable to an MMO than your usual shooter.

"A game like this requires a steady stream of content to keep people engaged and that’s core to this idea," Hirshberg told IGN at E3 2015. "That's what's been successful in keeping people engaged so far. We’ve had the right cadence to keep the game fresh and provide new challenges and new rewards. So that’s definitely the strategy."

Hirshberg continued, "As people get deeper and get more passionate, the engagement picks up momentum. At the same time it's a super appealing, well-crafted, well-tuned FPS, and so that has its own appeal. Also I think that the game has gotten better. This is a game that the community has a huge voice in...and with that kind of investment of time, people are going to have a great feedback loop. I think Bungie has done a great job of picking out the core themes and making the right tweaks, and I think it’s just going to get better and better."

Call of Duty saw massive success with its map packs, zombie expansions, and other add-ons in recent years, but Activision specifically is not drawing straight from its biggest franchise for its other major shooter franchise.

"The long tail on Call of Duty, which is also an incredibly engaging game that people stick around to play for months and months if not years after release is competitive multiplayer," Hirshberg said. "So that’s a different stream of content. You want new maps, you want new challenges, you want new modes to keep that fun." Destiny, on the other hand, is "much more about exploration, it’s much more about missions. It’s much more about leveling up your character and becoming legend, as the tagline says, within that world."

Hirshberg admits both franchises can learn from each other, but cited their differences as a distinct strength. Destiny's social elements, for example, differ greatly. Both Call of Duty and Destiny certainly have their strong competitive modes, but it's the exploration elements Hirshberg mentioned that holds the Destiny audience's attention.